Land developing education

[Forrest Shealy]

I generally work in rentals, but my father has some land that I want to help him develop. It about 5 acres on a lake with a road running through the middle of the land. It has a small house hooked up to utilities on it that would need to be demolished. It is in the middle of suburbia. 

Would it be better to just subdivide it and sell the lots? I looked at the subdividing requirements, and it would split into 4 lots nicely. I would partner with a  developer if I was to develop it, but how do I learn enough to know if the developer is good? How do I know what the deal should look like?

What resources should I research?

Thank you!